1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of devices, methods, and systems for monitoring electric power consumption of electrically powered appliances, devices, and equipment as well as power consumption of residential, commercial, and/or industrial buildings and facilities as well as organizational or business campuses of any size or configuration. The invention described herein further relates to a method and apparatus for the monitoring of electricity consumption, and more particularly, to a system including one or more current and/or power sensing devices connected to a remote monitor that enables home, business, and/or any electricity users to monitor their power consumption to enable such adjustments as are necessary or desirable to reduce and/or proactively manage and optimize electricity usage and to reduce or control associated costs.
2. Description of Related Art
The inventor herein has previously invented, with others, a power and current-sensing device disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,218 (hereafter “the '218 Patent”) and a monitoring device disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,872 (hereafter “the '872 Patent”), both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety as though fully set forth herein. The '218 Patent discloses a magnetically permeable core suitable to be disposed around a power feeder cable, such as is typically used to supply power to a residence or business from the main power grid.
A coil situated upon the core generates an induced voltage proportional to the feeder cable current without ohmic contact being required. In addition, the wrapping of a core around the current-carrying cable balances the unbalanced magnetic fields surrounding the cable, which unexpectedly reduces power loss. The '872 Patent discloses and claims a device to monitor the power being supplied to a building, such as a residence or business, using a magnetically permeable core, including a read-out unit calibrated to convert the current sensed from the core into units of power being consumed by the building.
The core and monitoring device disclosed and claimed in the '218 and '872 Patents enable a user to sense current and thus monitor the power being consumed in a building on a real-time basis. Studies have shown that when power consumption is monitored on a real-time basis, consumers reduce their consumption by an average of ten to twenty percent.
For example, a consumer may realize that a light or other appliance has been left on, or a freezer door left open, unintentionally. Alternatively, the consumer may realize that certain appliances he or she is using are not energy-efficient and may be spurred to replace those appliances with more efficient models. As energy prices skyrocket and concerns grow about power generation and consumption contributing to global warming (especially where the grid power is derived from fossil fuels), becoming more energy efficient and thus reducing power consumption is both an economic and a climatic imperative.
While the core and device disclosed and claimed in the prior art '218 and '872 Patents assist in accomplishing the goal of decreasing power consumption, they do suffer some deficiencies. For example, using the prior art devices, one can monitor only the total power being consumed in the building. At most times, more than one electrically powered appliance is being used in the building; therefore, it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly which appliance is the most inefficient.
Also, while the prior art devices include a monitor with units calibrated to show the amount of power being consumed, the monitor displays only the present power consumption and cannot provide any information as to past usage, averages per different times of day, or other information that might be useful in profiling and reducing power consumption. Further, the prior art core transmitted the data to the monitor via a wire, necessitating either locating the monitor outside the building, or running a wire into the building.
What has long been needed in the field of art is a core and monitoring system that allows for a core wrapped around a current-carrying cable to balance unbalanced magnetic fields to reduce power consumption. Preferably, such a system could be adapted in varied configurations to monitor the current-carrying cable non-invasively to enhance safety during installation and operation.
More preferably, such monitoring systems would be optionally compatible for use with a plurality of core sensors so that the consumption of individual appliances may be monitored periodically and/or in real-time. In even more optionally preferred variations, monitoring systems could be modified to communicate with and/or receive information transmitted from the cores to the monitoring hardware via a wireless method.
In additionally preferred alternative variations, the monitoring system may be augmented to sense power consumption and to communicate such information in a display or read-out scaled to and/or configured to display dimensional units that accommodate any type of electric load. In further modified embodiments, the monitoring system may also be adapted to sense power consumption periodically and/or continuously and to transmit such consumption information instantaneously, on demand, occasionally, or periodically.
Even more preferably, certain alternative power consumption monitoring systems may incorporate software and/or circuitry configured to operate, collect, display, and analyze information about power consumption either on-site, proximate to, and/or remote from the location of the electric loads. In other preferred or optional variations, the monitoring system may be implemented whereby the software can interface with the system and can correlate the monitored information with a user's electric utility bill. In this way, new, innovative, and heretofore unavailable capabilities can be established whereby power consumers and producers, distributors, traders, resellers, suppliers, and/or utility service providers or organizations or municipalities may more accurately ascertain power consumption or usage, availability, quality, and/or reliability so as to better control, manage, increase availability and quality, and/or reduce or optimize power consumption to minimize inefficiencies.